Laurie's Fourteenth Newsletter

Newsletter 14 May 20th , 2014 Dear Fellow Classmates, It is hard to believe that the reunion weekend has come and gone. Judging by emails received by committee members, the reunion was a great success. I received a number of emails from people who were skeptical and almost did not attend but came and had a great time. Many said it exceeded their expectations. One person actually read my greetings in the reunion booklet (it is the first page of the booklet) and realized, as I did, that though many of us only had only a small number of friends, we had a lot of interesting people in our class we previously did not know, with whom we shared a common interest in and therefore would have a great time getting to know. There is talk of another reunion though the timing has to be decided. Some say it should be in two years because they had such a good time they miss each other already; others say three years, because two years is too soon;  others say four years because that will  then be 50 years from when we graduated   Others say five years because that is when the majority of us turn 70 and still others say 6 years because that is when we will finish eating the left over pizza and desserts.  Personally I vote for four years.  I will keep the database going (and hopefully growing) and Bill Schabas will continue administering the blog. No matter when the next reunion is, everyone can start looking now for the 120 classmates we did not find for this reunion.   But there is still a lot of unfinished business with this reunion, which is discussed in this newsletter. Janet Toppin Swann’s slide show is now posted to www.youtube.com,  some pictures are on line and I am reprinting the speeches,  all so those who could not attend the reunion can see what it was like and those that were there can relive the moments.   But first some bios which are still being accepted ( and expected ) though not sure when they will be printed in a newsletter. BIOS I must again apologize to Lesley Jo Gross for inadvertently not having her bio in a newsletter or the Bio Booklet though I had it on the blog. So here is her bio along with Les Tabor’s who was a last minute submission ( the day of the reunion) and  he was a last minute show to the reunion, but he had a great time .  I am sorry to advise that one of our classmates, Jeff Plewman just recently passed away.  Please print out the bios and add them to your Bio booklet which I assume is sitting on your coffee table for all your friends and family to read. Lesley  Gross (Binstock Offman ) Let me start by saying that I really loved my five years at NTCI. I thought it was a great school, with a terrific mix of students. After getting unconditional acceptance to U of T and York, I decided to go to Western, which would not grant me automatic acceptance because I failed 1st term grade 12 math. This despite the fact that I had applied to study English and Journalism! At the reunion in 2012, many of you mentioned that you remembered me going steady   ( when was the last time you heard that expression?) during high school. We broke up in grade 12, and I then started dating Morley Binstock, who I knew from Oriole Park Public School. In 1969, I left Western, married Morley, and enrolled in a Fashion Arts course, hoping to eventually become a Fashion journalist. After graduation, I worked for several years for Dylex and Town and Country. And, as well, started volunteering at the Elizabeth Fry Society, which helps women in trouble with the law. (Do any of you remember the fact that my father was one of only three Jewish Mounties during the war?) I spent 8 years as a volunteer there, the last 3 years as their youngest Board member. Because of my involvement, I enrolled in a criminology course at U of T. Morley and I had three sons. After the first was born in 1975, I fell into a wonderful life balance that I called - a little wifeing, a little mothering, a little (very little) housekeeping, a little working, and a little charity work. All together they kept me very happily busy until 1991. After twenty-one and-a-half years of marriage, Morley died of cancer at the age of 43. Our children were 8, 11, and 15. For the sake of my children, I was determined not to succumb to the overwhelming grief I was feeling. I didn't want them to feel they had lost both parents. As many of you know, you don't "get over" great loss, you just get used to your new reality, and with time, that is what happened. In 1994 I married Allan Offman. At that time he had a married daughter and an unmarried son. We have now been married over 19 years, and in that time my step son married, as did my eldest son. Between 1998 and 2012 we have been blessed with 5 grandchildren. My 2 youngest sons, 34 and 31, are still unmarried, but the youngest is in a serious relationship. Here's hoping! Although I have had a variety of interesting jobs, and co-owned two businesses, other than family and friendships, the most rewarding endeavours in my life have come from the many volunteer and board positions I have held in a variety of charities and institutions. Through these organizations I have met many people I would otherwise have never known, and travelled to places I may never have been, including many cities across Canada, the United States, Israel, Russia and China. Both my personal growth and values have been shaped and molded by these experiences.  In closing I want to mention my dear friend Marsha Kagan (Storm). We met in 1956 on the first day of grade 2 at Oriole Park Public School, and spent 2 years at NTCI together, before she moved at the end of grade 10. Our friendship continues to this day. She and I will be attending all the reunion events together. Looking forward to seeing everyone in May. We have at least 5 years of memories to share.  Les Tabor Sorry about the timing but today as back in 68 I was always a pro at procrastinating.  So here goes--- Thanks to the guidance teacher at NT(I think his name was Mr. Morton but I could be hallucinating) he said best opportunities were either computers or polymers(plastics).   So having chosen polymers, U of T lied to me as they never offered the proposed polymer course so Ryerson got me. Like someone else wrote in his bio, cards, table tennis (yes competitive ping pong) & the Imperial pub saw far too much of me.  On graduating I started as assistant chemist at Toronto's largest toy company. In  6yrs I went through  chief chemist etc  until I was manager responsible for 300+ people making rubber duckies etc.  As proud as I was with my 6 year progress I found out from sales guys calling on me that I was working my tail off for less money than these junior sales flunkies were making. When one of my suppliers approached me to offer a sales job I jumped at the opportunity. This was Canada Colors & Chemicals (the largest Canadian  owned chemicals/plastics distributor).   So I sold plastics, the raw material to all plastic companies throughout Canada for the manufacturing of auto parts, house siding, food containers, garbage bags etc etc.  After a few other positions & 35yrs I retired in 2007 as sales manager  & now spend my time golfing, curling & travelling with Karen my wife for 35-40yrs (god I hope she doesn't see this).   ps1--Yup we decided to be kidless (but you never know, we may change our minds) And yes we still live in Toronto  near 401 & Yonge.  ps2--If you're golfing at Royal Woodbine(near airport) move your butt as the mean marshal there could be me. Jeff Plewman Jeff Plewman was only in our class in our graduating year. He was a successful musician known as Nash the Flash. I could not find contact information to invite him to the reunion but I did have a bio for him with links to his very interesting web site. But now would like to print part of what was written about him when he passed away. “Jeff Plewman, the musician behind the experimental rock persona Nash the Slash and the band FM, has died at age 66. Nash the Slash was a mainstay in Toronto live music clubs throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He was known internationally after a world tour with Gary Numan and Iggy Pop and had opened up for the Who. Before performing as Nash the Slash, Plewman played in the prog-rock band FM in the 1970s. Nash the Slash appeared on stage in a black tuxedo, top hat, dark sunglasses and wrapped in bandages. It would become his signature look. His bandaged appearance from 1979 onward prompted many questions about his mysterious identity. He started the independent record label Cut-Throat Records, which he used to release his own music. Among his albums was Decomposing, which he claimed could be listened to at any speed, and Bedside Companion, which he said was the first record out of Toronto to use a drum machine. His biggest hit was Dead Man's Curve, a cover of a Jan and Dean song. “ REUNION WEEKEND MAY 2,3  2014 Reunion Booklet http://www.mediafire.com/view/fggt17g4jk6h23k/Reunion_Handout_.pdf is a copy on the blog of the Reunion Booklet handed out to those who attended the reunion.  It contains greeting from myself, the principal of N.T.C.I. and the co-chair of the North Toronto Foundation, as well as an updated list of who attended, maps to the house parties and the words to the school song. Janet Toppin Swann’s Slide show You can  find Janet Toppin Swann’s excellent slide show that ran through out Memory Mingle by going  to www.youtube.com and search NTCI 1968 Class Reunion or go to our reunion blog where it is linked from there. You can also try this direct link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSE4id1wif8 . Photographs Fortunately Doug Gammage had the good idea of hiring a student photographer because so far, besides me, and I did not take as many pictures as I would have liked, only Martin Hart, has sent photos to me , because justifiably people were too busy talking to people.  Hopefully more pictures are out there and will added to my flickr account . The photos of our student photographer William Smythe  and can be found on the web at this link http://imgur.com/a/H8bT3#0 . There are 199 pictures showing what a great time everyone had.   My pictures along with Martin’s can be found on my flickr account at https://www.flickr.com/photos/21874021@N08 . Please send me your photos and I’ll put them on my flickr page .    Reunion Speeches The following speeches were given at Memory Mingle in the order they were given (otherwise I would not have put mine first). Laurie Pascoe’s Speech Now that you have had the pizza you have to pay the price and listen to a few short speeches. My name is Laurie Pascoe, yes the guy who has been harassing many of you to come to the reunion, to find your fellow classmates and to write your bios. I would like to welcome you all to the first North Toronto Class of 1968 Reunion and I thank you all very much for coming.  I would like to specially thank and quickly name those who made the effort to come long distances to be here, which I have arbitrarily have decided is outside southern Ontario.  From the United States of America we have Mike Guinness from Ohio and Paul Jannimagi from Rochester New York.  From western Ontario, Thunder Bay has sent their city solicitor Nadia Koltun. From Eastern Ontario, we have Alex Sandy Sellers from Kingston, from Barry’s Bay we have resurrected David Coombs   David was listed as being dead at the last reunion so it is pretty amazing we have him here today .  From Carleton Place we  have former Member of Parliament  and liberal leadership candidate Tom Wappel, from Deep River  we have  Ted Clifford and from your nation’s capital,  Ottawa,  where we spend your tax dollars wisely  we have Martin Hart and myself. From western Canada we have from Alberta Anne Galbraith Lowenberg,  from Calgary and Liz Ingram from Edmonton  and from Victoria, British Columbia we have Jane Wolfraim Mears.  But the winners of the farthest from the stadium contest are Bill Schabas and Joan Dewhurst who came all the way from the motherland, that’s England , to be here this weekend. I would also like to point out the teachers who have come tonight   We have my grade 9 music teacher Mr Douglass  Couke , my grade 10  English teacher, Mr.  Robert Nicholson - yes I was in your class Mr.Nicholson.   We have my grade 11 and grade 13 math  B teacher Mr. Peter Broughton   and  also attending is Mr. Lorne Smith who  taught me  Grade 13A math .   We have geography teachers Mr. David McCullough and Mr. Lynn McMurray whom I did not have the pleasure of having .  It should be acknowledged that Mr. Mc Muarray started his teaching career the same year our class started high school and was the home room teacher of 9D. It takes a village to put on a reunion so I, on behalf of all of us would like to thank a number of people. Firstly, I want to thank my fellow members of the organizing committee  and the people  in charge of Memory Mingle  - being  Carolyn Born Kennedy, Janet MacDonald Bowler and Ruth Rosen Levkoe.   They did a great job though not sure they ordered enough food. And also working on memory Mingle was Janet Toppin Swann who put together the slide show and Anu Pettai  Marley who co-ordinated  with the school and the music department  and made sure we found the room.  Anu had an in as she also taught at NTCI. I would like to thank, all the people who volunteered to set up and clean up Memory Mingle, people who baked, those who are taking pictures, manning the registration table, and selling raffle tickets -  which are still available until the draw tomorrow at supper. We thank Bill Humber and Doug Gammage and their respective spouses Cathie and  Lea  for opening their homes and hosting the house parties tonight at Bill’s and tomorrow at Doug’s . And at Bill’s house tonight we will be entertained by our classmate Warner Clarke and also by talented young singer/songwriter Noah Pascoe. If he issues a CD please buy it so he does not move back home. Talking about Pascoes I would like to thank my wife Carol for putting up with my many reunion stories and my spending so much time working on this reunion.  She also edited a number of newsletters. She made me take out a few lines here and there – as she likes to point out, not everyone appreciates my sense of humour.  She also baked a lot for tonight  – I especially suggest you try her date squares. I would like thank Doug Campbell for leading the historical walk tomorrow morning.  Please sign up with Doug so he knows how many people to expect.   And I would like to thank Jan Wolfrain Mears who started the database for the 100th Reunion and who actively looked for classmates. And lastly I would vey much like to thank Bill Schabas , for setting  up and administering  the great  reunion blog  we have.  Bill is keeping the blog open so we can post comments and pictures of the events of this weekend. We will still accept more bios because a few of you have still not yet done your homework and sent in a bio. Or you wrote very short bios that you may want to expand upon after this weekend I noticed one of our student council presidents, Garth Drabinsky only wrote two short sentences  – Garth  you may want to add  to your bio,   otherwise how would we possibly know what you have been doing  since high school.   Then there is Mike Guinness – our other student counsel president – Mike, I don’t  think you need to enlarge on your bio.  That is my lead in, to introduce from our class, which was so outstanding that we had -not one, but two great student council presidents – Mike Guinness and Garth Drabinsky  - they will say a few words .   Mike Guinness’s Speech Hello everyone. Our reunion day is finally here! First, we owe many thanks to Laurie Pascoe for thinking of this reunion two years ago, for putting this all together for us today, and for making us do our bios while we are still able to do them. Thanks also to the many people nearby who have been essential in this endeavor.   I feel lucky to be with you today. Lucky to be 64 and still able to get this far! I wish that we could have been able to meet in our old school but this new school is built on the same site and is still called North Toronto Collegiate  Institute . This is good and reassuring and that field outside is wonderful and finally regulation size So, this is the 50th anniversary of our year in grade 9.Back then  probably no one was imagining 50 years into the future to a day Like this. However, this anniversary has prompted me to think back to my first day, our first day at North Toronto.. I can clearly recall two events of that day  first ; an awesome start to  our home room geography class ( 9D ) with Mr. McMurray. It was also his first day at North Toronto , his first year as a teacher with a lasting impact on my life. Second, I remember Sid Reynolds measuring the boys in our first gym class that day. I had known Sid from years earlier at Camp PineCrest where I was so little that he often carried me around the camp on his shoulders threatening to throw me in the lake or to blow cigar smoke in my face. Now, in the gym class, he was measuring weight and height and shaking his head. He measured me at 95 pounds and 4 feet, eleven inches tall officially making me the smallest boy in the school. ( On another day John Tafts was found to be 4 feet , 9 inches but I never knew that ) From that day onward  up to and including today , I have looked up to you , to everyone here ,  and to others not here , as being the smartest, brightest , most talented , creative , most fun loving class I have ever been in- and I have been in a lot of classes ! Our parents may have helped in this  Maybe genetics played a role. Possibly the 1960's inspired us-still my favorite decade. N.T.C.I. had an amazing tradition of achievement. Our school had more Ontario Scholarship winners than any other school in the province and we continued that tradition even if we did not write those final exams in grade 13. Each year we had numerous championship sports teams and we won many music awards throughout the city. Our Principal, Mr Page, probably energized us toward these achievements . He was so focused on excellence   About 20 years later, I read a book called: " In Search of Excellence " and it looked like Mr Page could have written half of it . Now some of our class did not exactly fit into Mr Page's framework or philosophy. I recall some tensions in this regard particularly in the spring of 1966. However, if this was the case , your bios show that you used your talents to develop exciting fulfilling careers contributing so much for so many. I can think of the bios for Liz Ingram, John Kennedy, so lovingly crafted by Carolyn, Bill Humber ,Bill Schabas and many others. I think you know who you are and I hope you know what I mean when I say that you used your talents so wisely, so nicely. Possibly by conscious recruitment, or by general gravitational attraction toward excellence, North Toronto assembled the greatest team of teachers, ever! Some of them are here tonight actually eager to be with us! We may not have known at the time, how lucky we were to have been in your classes but tonight we have the opportunity to thank you so much for being so dedicated, so inspirational in your teaching and mentoring. Finally   for all of us here tonight, I would like to establish three resolutions  They are easy and I think you can agree with me: 1) Let's stay as healthy as we can  2) So that we can " live long and prosper" 3) So that we can meet again like this, in a few more years. Thank you. Garth Drabinsky’s Speech Between 1989 and 1994, I wrote an autobiography – the story of my tumultuous life, with its share of trauma, comedy, passion, adventure, romance, conflict resolution, deep emotional pain and adversity, and from time to time – triumph. Needless to say the nearly twenty intervening years and events would have shaped my story quite differently.  But, these are a few selected extracts from that book pertaining to why we are here to celebrate tonight. **** My school years were among the happiest of my life.  I graduated near the top of my class at Allenby and then moved to North Toronto Collegiate, a school with one of the city’s highest academic standards. At first I was filled with dread.  New faces,  new teachers, the unexpected. The  other kids’ reaction to my limp.  And I would be one of maybe a hundred Jews in a student body of twelve hundred. However, I remember only good things about North Toronto. **** It was Grade 9, when I wandered into a Grade 13 drama group rehearsing Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid, that I found myself.  I knew right away I wanted to be part of this. It was a moment of genuine epiphany.  I loved it at once.  To this day, it’s the warmth that excites me.  Making theatre is intimate and involving.  The smell, the sights. The community of players, the egos, the magical pretense, the chameleon-like nature of the theatre, the chance to lose oneself in character and story, everything. The same year, Grade 9, I heard that auditions were being held at school for Inherit the Wind.  I saw myself playing Clarence Darrow, destroying the forces of ignorance and intolerance as represented by William Jennings Bryan.  But with my limp, I knew I’d be lucky even to get on stage.  And I was lucky – I managed to get a bit part on the jury.  To me, it didn’t matter how small, how inconsequential the part, I was hooked.  Just putting on make-up, listening to the audience, watching the people react to the actors was an exhilarating experience. The first years of the sixties felt filled with promise and the possibilities seemed endless.  The shackles had come off – almost literally in my case, for I was finished with hospitals.  I was into my teens.  It was the time of Phil Spector.  The music of the Beatles echoed in my head.  **** The high point of my school career was when I was elected president of the student council.  Remember, this was 1967, when the assassination of John Kennedy was still thought of as having happened only yesterday.  Selma, Alabama, was becoming a code word for the struggle for civil rights; it was the time of Martin Luther King Jr., folk music, and fervent protest; Vietnam was already a lightning rod of high emotion; and student unrest was starting to manifest itself across North America. At the school’s seventy-fifth anniversary a few years ago, I made a soul-stirring speech about what the school meant to me.  It gave me a life, I said.  It filled up all the empty corners, it made me see I could be an achiever, it gave me friendships and made me feel whole. But was it perfect?  No. Why not? In a  word --- Girls.                                                                         **** I am profoundly saddened that the lives of too many of our fellow graduates did not reach this remarkable evening.  However, as we begin to enter maybe the last quarter of all our indelible days, I urge all of you never to quit on life – refuse to yield and always believe there is inspiration in that. In the immortal words of Robert Browning: “I was ever a fighter, so one fight more the best and the last.  I would hate that death bandaged my eyes and forbore, And bade me creep past.” Editor’s Note:  I told Garth after he delivered his speech that I was one of the four people who bought his book but he claims it sold thousands of copies. I complained that he mentioned Fred Fruitman in his book but not me even though we lived close by, were in Kindergarten together and went to camp together. He promised in his next autobiography there would be a chapter entitled “The Pascoes”. Ruth Rosen Levkoe’s Speech Good evening everyone, I can’t tell you how delighted I am to be here reconnecting and visiting with really good friends. It’s been such a pleasure reading the life stories of many of my former classmates and especially seeing many in person. Before the formal part of this Memory Mingle concludes here in this room, I want to clarify the Raffle idea and the process. Most of you purchased these double tickets. As a committee, under the very competent leadership of Carolyn Born-Kennedy, we decided to provide a light supper and are very grateful to those people who baked, cooked and even purchased goodies. However, we did have some expenses as we bought some food items, serving utensils, drinks etc. Carolyn paid for all of these and we’re hoping the proceeds from our 50/50 or 70/30 will not only cover Carolyn’s credit card, but allow some lucky graduate (or teacher) to win a cash prize. We will draw the winning ticket Saturday evening, in a fair manner, and post the winning number on our blog or contact the winner if we have that information on our sheets. Stay tuned to the blog for that…  Meanwhile…you can still purchase tickets or buy some more up until Saturday night at our second house party. While I have your attention, I also want to thank a few key people for putting this wonderful Reunion together: Carolyn—who was our terrific Chairperson (and banker)and thought of everything Anu –our school contact who took care of so many internal issues Janet Mc-the supreme organizer and details person Janet T-who took on the technical aspect of putting together the slide show and did a marvelous job Bill and Doug who will open their homes to us Bill Schabas who created and maintained the amazing blog All the food contributors … And of course the one and only, Laurie Pascoe. Not only is he working full time as a lawyer, but he must have devoted hundreds of hours on this project. Thank goodness he is not billing us for his time! I don’t know how Laurie did it—his sleuthing skills are incredible…using social media, the old fashioned telephone, contacting associates, he tracked down most of us on his own. He was relentless in convincing us to attend and even more aggressive, dare I say bullying, in getting those bios from us. He became our micro-manager throughout all our sub-committee meetings and I say that in an affectionate way. My inbox was filled with Laurie emails daily.  But he did it – he pulled it off. And I know I speak for all of you in thanking Laurie for this amazing opportunity to reconnect with dear friends and reflect on our formative high school years. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend. SCHOOL SONG I inserted the words to the school song in the reunion booklet so when we sang it after the speeches we would get the words right.  But the trumpeters we hired to play the school song started that famous opening before I had a chance to mention that everyone should turn to the last page of the reunion booklet. Here is a link to the NTCI choir singing the school song to hear what it is suppose to  sound like - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxXJt0OOsWc . But that rendition did not have the great cheer eaders we had after we sang the school song. REQUESTS FOR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE REUNION Though a number of you have written me and other committee members with some personal comments about the reunion I would ask that you send me comments that I have permission to put in a newsletter or you can directly just post your comments to our blog. Below is an unedited comment from Bill Humber which he did send directly to our blog for posting.  Editor’s Note: I did not pay Bill to write his comments. A May 2/3 Remembrance by Bill Humber To a list of insiders, outliers, rebels, entrepreneurs, lawyers, farmers, engineers, dreamers, academics, impresarios, doctors, survivors, thinkers, moms, pops, grandmas, grandpas, wanderers, dancers, debutantes, gardeners, athletes, politicians, entertainers, linguists, historians, and especially the brave, the humble, and sadly, those departed, from the North Toronto class of '68 and those close in time, let's add a new category – choreographer. Laurie Pascoe has set a high bar for cheerleading, herding cats, and light footed appearances everywhere. Those of us who contributed in some small way to this merry challenge to the gods of time and energy (didn't we study them in a 9th grade Four Ages of Man class?) bow respectfully for the dazzling performance of the indomitable LP and his thought that not only would we share our stories to date, but that many of us would meet in marvelous supplication to an idea. You did it man! – If that's not too "sixties speak". For the organizers of Friday's gathering at North Toronto CI in a building no longer familiar, there are still just enough small touches of what was once there to spark a poignant laugh or tear, as well as teachers who could have been mistaken for our classmates (do they age better than students?). For those of us who threw open our homes, we did so knowing the damage once potentially wreaked by 18 year olds was long past the delivery date of this crowd. For a wondrous walking tour through the old berg and a chance for storytellers to shine and for another to show us the rock on which she sat as a young person just to think and dream. For everything in short that made the weekend's events something to be relished and maybe, just maybe, a foundation to mount further indulgences of sweet memory and laughter. Well done all. Laurie has asked for more of our experiences. Bill Schabas has promised to keep the blog alive. Carolyn Born Kennedy had enough leftover pizza for many future gatherings. So if you haven't sent a bio, but even for those who wish to update theirs, get clicking. Some have more to say – no names here, you know who you are! Some have given their all and can take a rest – once again you know who you are! And for those who missed the weekend perhaps because of distance, other commitments, or you're still shy (after all these years?) make sure you're prepared for the next one of these because I can tell you now you will be delighted, overwhelmed, and amazed in large, small and pleasing ways by the lives of your compatriots from times long ago and now shaped at least somewhat by a kind of wisdom, humour, and, occasionally, an unexpected insight. One disappointment however. Our rousing cheerleaders (you know who you are) on Friday night did a spirited rendition of the old school song. But where were the pyramids, the cartwheels and especially the splits? Ah well perhaps age does claim some talents and bravery, and the sight of EMS personnel carting off those whose imagination exceeded their ability to deliver would have put a real damper on the evening. So you're excused, and so are those who couldn't make it, and those yet to submit their stories – but be forewarned you won't want to miss a second opportunity. Everything, but the splits, is promised. Conclusion So I hope to hear from you with your comments on this past reunion, thoughts about the next reunion date and format and photos from this reunion.  And of course if you still have not done your bio – send it to me – it will be put on the blog and eventually a newsletter, which will be infrequent the next few years. I also want your promise to look at that database and go get people who still have not been found. Maybe you know a relative of that person that could help you, or some lead that could discover their whereabouts.  There were a number of people who could not make it to this reunion though had intentions to come.  So the next reunion could have a whole new addition of people if we all look harder.  - Laurie Pascoe

Slide show and booklet from the reunion

The slide show at the reunion can be viewed on YouTube.
The booklet that was distributed to those who attended the reunion is available here.

From today's Guardian.

A May 2/3 Remembrance

To a list of insiders, outliers, rebels, entrepreneurs, lawyers, farmers, engineers, dreamers, academics, impresarios, doctors, survivors, thinkers, moms, pops, grandmas, grandpas, wanderers, dancers, debutantes, gardeners, athletes, politicians, entertainers, linguists, historians, and especially the brave, the humble, and sadly, those departed, from the North Toronto class of '68 and those close in time, let's add a new category – choreographer.

Laurie Pascoe has set a high bar for cheerleading, herding cats, and light footed appearances everywhere. Those of us who contributed in some small way to this merry challenge to the gods of time and energy (didn't we study them in a 9th grade Four Ages of Man class?) bow respectfully for the dazzling performance of the indomitable LP and his thought that not only would we share our stories to date, but that many of us would meet in marvelous supplication to an idea. You did it man! – If that's not too "sixties speak".

For the organizers of Friday's gathering at North Toronto CI in a building no longer familiar, there are still just enough small touches of what was once there to spark a poignant laugh or tear, as well as teachers who could have been mistaken for our classmates (do they age better than students?).

For those of us who threw open our homes, we did so knowing the damage once potentially wreaked by 18 year olds was long past the delivery date of this crowd.

For a wondrous walking tour through the old berg and a chance for storytellers to shine and for another to show us the rock on which she sat as a young person just to think and dream.

For everything in short that made the weekend's events something to be relished and maybe, just maybe, a foundation to mount further indulgences of sweet memory and laughter.

Well done all.

Laurie has asked for more of our experiences. Bill Schabas has promised to keep the blog alive. Carolyn Born Kennedy had enough leftover pizza for many future gatherings. So if you haven't sent a bio, but even for those who wish to update theirs, get clicking. Some have more to say – no names here, you know who you are! Some have given their all and can take a rest – once again you know who you are!

And for those who missed the weekend perhaps because of distance, other commitments, or you're still shy (after all these years?) make sure you're prepared for the next one of these because I can tell you now you will be delighted, overwhelmed, and amazed in large, small and pleasing ways by the lives of your compatriots from times long ago and now shaped at least somewhat by a kind of wisdom, humour, and, occasionally, an unexpected insight.

One disappointment however. Our rousing cheerleaders (you know who you are) on Friday night did a spirited rendition of the old school song. But where were the pyramids, the cartwheels and especially the splits? Ah well perhaps age does claim some talents and bravery, and the sight of EMS personnel carting off those whose imagination exceeded their ability to deliver would have put a real damper on the evening. So you're excused, and so are those who couldn't make it, and those yet to submit their stories – but be forewarned you won't want to miss a second opportunity. Everything, but the splits, is promised.

- Bill Humber

Thirteenth newsletter from Laurie

13th Newsletter



April 27, 2014





Dear fellow classmates,



It is hard to believe but the Class of 1968 Reunion starts in just few days.  Can you handle the excitement?



I know I said there would be no more newsletters but I received 5 bios after the deadline and though they are, or will be,  on the blog,  I wanted to publish them in a newsletter so to ensure that the authors ( 4 of whom are coming  to the reunion ) would not be continually asked what have they have been doing the last 46 years – as I expect you are all studying the bios so know  exactly what your fellow classmates have been up to.



I am also providing the most up to date database so you could see who is going to what events. We are having great turnouts for all events.  In that regard,  please note that Ted Clifford and his wife Sarah will be attending as will Sue Gowans . Ted just advised me he is coming and I made a mistake and did not have Sue on the printed attendees” list you’ll get at the reunion.



All systems are ready to go to have a great reunion.  The welcome table opens at 4:30 with the food starting to flow at 5:00.  Talking about food,  Carolyn asks that those bringing baking that want their containers back should have their name on the bottom of their container. 



For those who have not been back to the school recently, guess what, our N.T.C.I. was torn down a few years ago and in its place is a new modern school built on the same land though placed differently on the site than where the old school was.  As high school graduates you should be able to figure out how to get into the building and from there, there will be signs to our designated party room number 215.   You will be given directions on how to get to the house parties at Bill’s and Doug’s.



Looking forward to seeing  you in a few days.



Laurie Pascoe







BIOS





Michael Pasic

After High School I progressed into Engineering at U of T but left after a few years always having enjoyed taking pictures  went into Portrait and Wedding Photography.

Combining my desire to build things and photography., I took a course in Camera Repair and worked for a number of Distributors over the next several years. Switching over to Office equipment I got an entry job at Gestetner moving on to be Service Manager then Training Manager at Head Office.

Along the way married twice and divorced and had 2 kids in second marriage, now both teachers.  Third time lucky, met Sandi the present Love of my Life in 1991 and have been together ever since.

My training career moved to Sharp Electronics Canada Ltd where I worked for 7 years until the recession of late 80‚s. Unemployed for 1 day I went to work at a Copier dealer moving from one dealer to another until the last dealer I worked was bought by Sharp and 21 years late I am back working at Sharp.

Currently I am a Troubleshooting and Networking specialist. Still a couple of years from retiring, we have bought some land on a mountainside in the Okanogan Valley and hope to build a retirement home out there soon.





Megan Whittingham



After NTCI, I spent two years at Bishop Strachan School.  Then I went to Trinity College at U of T where I spent three years writing essays in English, History and Philosophy.

These were not the happiest days of my life but at least I got a B.A.   Fortunately, the summers were much more enjoyable.  After many sunny days (and years) at Camp Onawaw on Lake Vernon near Huntsville, I made the leap to the Rockies.



I was hired as a waitress at Lake O‚Hara Lodge, the gem of the Rockies, in Yoho National Park,  for the summer of 1970.  I just loved the mountains and worked a total of three summers there. I ended up getting a job in Calgary where I met the man I eventually married.  David Malcolm is NZ born, UK raised, a naturalized Canadian and now a US citizen.  We have lived in Thunder Bay, Calgary, Mississauga and for the last 22 years, in Kirkland, Washington, home of the Costco Signature products.  We moved here for David‚s work which is R&D in wind energy, with our 3 sons. In truth, I came kicking and screaming across the country and south of the border. It has taken me quite a while to accept that I live in the USA but I am now reconciled to the fact.  I confess I have a bias against guns and private health care.



I also completed a B.Ed at Lakehead University when David was a professor of engineering there and I worked as a substitute teacher for several years.



Here I work as a teaching assistant at Mark Twain Elementary School with the students learning English. I‚ve enjoyed it ˆ especially the summers off when I come back to Ontario ˆ but I may soon reach my Œbest-before‚ date.  We have 3 fine sons, 2 terrific daughters-in-law and now a 10 month old grand-daughter named Joan (my mother‚s name). My parents are in the Mt. Pleasant cemetery *sob* but my brother, Anthony, and both sisters, Valerie and Lorna, are in Toronto. We 4 share our grandparents‚ cottage on Lake of Bays.



I have happy memories of NTCI, notably the music classes and various Junior Band concerts. During the first music class at the beginning of Grade 9, Heather MacNeill and I raised our hands  to play the oboes in Dr. Couke‚s class.  I wanted to follow in my brother‚s footsteps.  Anthony was two years ahead and he played both the oboe and English horn.  The difference between us was that was that he was musical and had talent!

Heather and I used to frighten her cat with the terrible noises we made during our rare practice sessions. Therefore, our mothers agreed that we should alternate our practices between one house and the other, to spread the joy around.



I have never forgotten Dr. Couke‚s immortal words, „Let‚s hear it again without the oboes.‰



There was a great camaraderie in those years with leaf rakes and car washes to raise money for the United Appeal.  Lots of school spirit!  It was fun playing in Maytime Melodies and at Kiwanis competitions.



I wish I could see all my old friends from those days but I will have to aim for the 50th reunion for the Class of 1968.



Tom Kalvik



After high school I went to U of T at Scarborough College, where I graduated with a BA.  The majority of my courses were in Economics.  While in university, I managed a men‚s hostel in the evenings.  When I graduated, I knew that wasn‚t the life for me, so I took a job as an underwriter in insurance.  I thought I‚d try that out for six months and see how I liked it.  42 years later, I‚m still in the insurance industry, and have acquired numerous designations.  I have enjoyed working in various areas including estate planning, advanced marketing, project management and as a group insurance representative.  For the past 25 years, I have worked as a commissioned sales person.



I was married for 7 years and that didn‚t take, so I tried the single life and got tired of that.  I have now been with the same partner for the last 30 years and we enjoy travelling, together.  She is an avid reader and I‚ve also picked up the habit.



In my spare time, I curl, golf and swim, preferably in a lake or an ocean.  I find that I am now spending more and more time up north at the cottage or at my Florida condo in the winter months.  Reducing my work load gradually into retirement is working well for me.



Sue Gowans



I must have enjoyed school more than I realized, because I kept going back. After NTCI,  I completed my BA (Sociology) at York/Glendon.  After a hiatus of a few years, when I travelled and worked at this and that, I completed a Diploma in Child Studies at the Institute of Child Study/UofT.  Then, two wonderful children later, I took a long and scenic route to my MEd (Adult Education) at OISE/UofT.  For the past 20 years I‚ve worked with the Macaulay Child Development Centre, supervising various community and family support programs. I‚m still there, not yet ready to hang up my skates.  I have two beautiful grandchildren who live in Ottawa, and consequently, somewhat to my shame, I‚ve become a fan of Porter airlines. All in all, I have been fortunate, and right now, being in my sixties feels like something of a sweet spot.  Almost as good as 1968...



Wilson Mor





After graduating from Chemical Engineering at U of T in 1973, I went to work for Allied Photo Services, a photo-finishing subsidiary of 3M Canada. After 3M merged it‚s various photo-related businesses into one division, I moved from production into the lab, and in 1984, relocated to London, Ontario. Moving through a series of jobs in manufacturing, marketing, and the lab as a technical service rep, I initially supported 3M products used in image processing in photography and photo-finishing, and subsequently, in graphic preparation and offset printing.



With the onset of digital technologies, 3M developed numerous innovative products to anticipate the market needs. Coated film products were replaced by software and hardware, and my product support moved to digital printers and computer-generated (CG) graphics. My last assignment at 3M was in the creation of very large format graphics for signage applications, until I fully retired in 2011.



My wife Deb, also a 3M‚er, and I have 4 children between us. Samantha & Kahlie live and work in London, while Troy is away at school pursuing a nursing career. Riley lives in Toronto and works for an international manufacturer as a field engineer. My mother and my father-in-law both live in London, and fiercely embrace their respective independent life styles.



Deb and I like to travel, and enjoy cruising in particular. There are several destinations left on our bucket list. We‚re both active motorcyclists, and I‚m a passionate Huf ŒN Puf hockey player. Even in retirement, I‚m still associated with 3M, through the Retiree‚s Club, and we perform volunteer work for a variety of charitable initiatives and events, throughout the year.

Twelfth newsletter from Laurie

April 20^th. 2014

Dear Fellow Classmates

We are now less than two weeks away from the Reunion.  There was a flurry of last minute confirmations and bios to beat the deadlines.   Any more bios received will be published on the blog but not in a newsletter as this will be my last one – so no more begging for bios, for confirmation forms or for help finding people. 

If you change your mind or have not sent in a confirmation form please come to any of the events anyway. But if possible please tell me beforehand. No one in our class will be refused at the door.  We will have blank nametags ready for last minute attendees.

This newsletter contains a large number of bios, but a few are very short ( surprisingly again by lawyers).  Also for those geographically challenged there is information about parking, which was assembled by Carolyn Born Kennedy as she lives near the school and the whereabouts of the room we are holding memory Mingle written by Anu Pettai Marley as she actually still supply teaches at NTCI and therefore knows her way around the new school.   This newsletter also has an opinion piece from Karyn Allen, as she unable to come from the other side of the world for the reunion, but wanted to share some of her thoughts.  But first there is an important warning and advice.

WARNING AND ADVICE FOR THOSE ATTENDING THE CLASS REUNION

There is the remote possibility that you presently do not resemble what you looked like in 1968. Therefore some of your fellow classmates may not recognize you.  Your name tag that you will be given when you check in, should therefore be worn at all times to avoid possible embarrassment that your best high school friend does not greet you with open arms.

Also keep in mind that at 65 our minds and memories are not what they once were, and we have not been in contact with classmates for 46 years.  Therefore even with your name tag your best friend, lab partner, team mate, first date or even first love may not have a clue who you are even after you describe in detail what you did on that first date. If that happens to you, please wait at least 30 seconds to let that forgetful person either recall who you are, pretend they know who you are, or give up trying to remember who you are.  In the latter two cases please do not get upset. Take a deep breath and say to yourself “ gee, I guess they did not age as well as I did “.  Please no dramatic scenes or meltdowns.

If you are in doubt whether your appearance has changed since 1968 I suggest you take your grad picture, put it up to your face and look into a mirror in away you can see your face and the picture in the mirror. Then be honest about whether someone would say these are one and same person.

PARKING

Parking is tight.

The closest parking lot is indoor at 11 Broadway, south side very close to Yonge.  $5.00 all evening after 5. $3.50 per half hour before that.

Across the street   North side there is public indoor parking for the medical building on Yonge. $5.00 all evening after 6. $3.50 per half hour before that.

Across from the school and down 200 feet or so is 66 Broadway. Turn in the second driveway, drive right to the back and there are about 25 parking spots in a lot that is soon to be another condo. $5.00 all evening after 5. $1.00 per hour before that.

If you have to park on the street try Erskine as they NEVER ticket there according to Carolyn – so if you do get ticketed blame Carolyn and no one else.

LOCATION OF MEMORY MINGLE ROOM

Memory Mingle will be in room 215.  The school is in a square shape, so basically get yourself onto the second floor and find  room 215 ( it's on the east side of the school,  facing the yellow/beige apartment building that was at the end of the field in our day).  Anu will get signs made and put up:  NT '68 REUNION ROOM 215.

MAYTIME MELODY TICKETS

If you purchased Maytime Melody tickets from the school before the April 17^th deadline which 35 of us have done, your tickets will be given to you when you check in at Memory Mingle.  We will be sitting together.  You can still buy tickets before hand, in case the show is sold out , but you will have to pick  up your tickets at the box office and will not be sitting in our group ( but should not be talking anyway so not a big issue).

VOLUNTEERS

Thank you all those who confirmed they would volunteer for jobs at Memory Mingle. The organizers for that event will contact you directly about timing and what you are needed for.

THE SPIRIT OF THE PLACE

By Karyn Allen

Enhancing and invaluable.

1968, the year of our North Toronto Collegiate Institute graduation, was such a defining historical time for our generation. Such turmoil in North America and Europe, Woodstock Festival in August 1969, student revolts on university campuses, drugs, The Rolling Stones, now in their late ‘60s and 70, Janis Joplin’s death to follow in 1970. We all remember where we were on November 22, 1963, when JFK was assassinated – in my case in the gym - in the unflattering blue “romper”.

This upheaval and time of creative invention was not unique to our generation, but definitely part of our world at that time.

Our years at NTCI in historical perspective bring to mind such a positive time in our lives, so formative, shaping values, perspectives, learning what we did – and did not – excel in – and defining our future direction in life.

Somehow as I think about those years, we were in a kind of cocoon, supported by our gifted, enthusiastic teachers and forming indelible friendships and in some cases, love relationships, learning the values of loyalty, a love of learning, giving back to the community, good sportsmanship and pride in one’s accomplishments.

Who would have thought, in reading the biographies of those who have written about their lives since high school graduation, what life had in store for us? Entering university seemed like such a huge step – yet in retrospect, was just part of the journey.

This is not to say that I am idealizing those years. But they were definitely formative.

I have kept the precious five years of year books, which as I recall I had a part in designing. As I think about the upcoming reunion, which unfortunately I cannot attend due to currently living in Papua New Guinea – perhaps the furthest of anyone – I think about what a special occasion this is. We have all lost too many, far too young, have experienced the challenges and joyous moments that are all part of life. For myself, I have had the privilege of working in the international art world for over 40 years. To all of you, who have loved, excelled, lost, believed and given to your communities, I raise a glass to you from afar.

Congratulations!

BIOS

Here is the latest and last batch of bios. I am pleased to say we published 81 bios.

Marsha McQuillan

Marsha produced a very creative bio as a one page artsy collage with pictures and information in colour which does not lend itself easily to be out in a newsletter but can be found on our blog specifically at  the url below, so please click to read http://www.mediafire.com/view/u4ii3n1o2p0sqim/NT_Yearbook_Face_pg_PDF.pdf

Marg McLean Routledge

I worked as a Registered Nurse at Toronto Western Hospital until 1977. For those of you from Allenby, I worked with Patsy Penman (now Pat Durante) for a few years. I trained with Jane Bunker and we were able to renew our friendship from grade school days. Sadly, Jane passed away 10 years ago.

 I met my husband a few months after high school and we will be celebrating 43 years of marriage this June. Our daughter Cora was born in 1977 and our son Jonathan in 1979.

 In 1980, I went to the University Health Network as the manager of a busy multi-centre unit specializing in blood treatments for adults and children. It was a very challenging practice, treating acutely ill patients with very rare illnesses. We were pioneers in areas such as blood stem cell collections, managing incompatible organ transplants, red blood cell exchange, plasma exchange, WBC and platelet collections. For a number of years, I was also the coordinator for several large international clinical trials for Therapeutic Apheresis. This position enabled me to do some traveling to present our published research findings. Outside of my professional career, in the 80’s and 90’s, I designed and produced custom figure skating dresses (the kind you see in competitions) and specialty costumes for ice shows. I was also very involved with our children’s sports organizations during that time. Now I realize why I always felt tired back then.

In 1999, I transferred to Oakville hospital and worked in renal dialysis as coordinator of the vascular access program, anemia management, renal transplant program and CQI leader.

At age 50, I decided to go back to university and found that I enjoyed learning much more than in my teens and early twenty’s, when things like concerts and the Jarvis house seemed much more important.

I retired from the hospital in 2004, and am now self-employed working as an RN in the Insurance industry. Our daughter lives in Saint Catharines and has a three-year-old daughter, Gabby and a two-year-old son, Larson. Our son is in Calgary and has a six-year-old daughter, Audrey.  Unlike most of our friends, we do not travel south for the winter. We chose to buy a small cabin near the Rockies so we can spend more time with our granddaughter in Alberta.  I have more time for myself now and along with seeing our grandchildren whenever possible, I have gone back to painting and sewing. I developed severe arthritis in my late 20’s and was forced to give up skiing and skating, but have now discovered snowshoeing and golf. I am not a great golfer but enjoy getting out several times a week. I just read the new Bio’s that Laurie sent and was surprised to discovered that I am in the same women’s golf league as Barry’s wife Ave. She really is an excellent golfer.

I can’t commit to attending the festivities in May as I am waiting for my second knee replacement. The first was a godsend and am anxious to have this one done.

Jim [aka Stretch] McCullam

I arrived at North Toronto midway through my high school career. My parents had moved from the burbs where I attended a large, sprawling school with multiple playing fields and its own student parking lot. NT was different; I remember those early days taking it all in and deciding that it was urbane and cerebral and that I was up for it. Two things I remember best were being greeted by Sid Reynolds, not only a legend at NT but also at Camp Pine Crest, a place where I spent many happy summers. The other memory was that on my first day of school, try-outs for senior football were announced. In the suburbs football, especially senior football, was everything. A young man who made the team would find that pretty much anything a young man desired would be made available to him. Consequently my brother and I would train all summer and, along with hundreds of others, show up for rigorous try-outs only to frequently get cut and therefore be left undateable for the year. At NT, 32 guys showed up, 32 were needed, so we all made the team!

As well as Sid Reynolds, two other teachers I remember were Miss Chudleigh [sp?] for Art and Mrs. Shaw for History. Very few took Art at NT but for us who did Miss Chudleigh made it a very rich experience and gave me a good foundation for university. She herself could not draw a line but instead guided us and also connected us to the city’s galleries. In the burbs there was no such thing as an art exam, whereas hers took three hours and filled many exam books. Ann Shaw made History seem alive and engaged us as though we were adults. I remember she brought in a Playboy to read to us as it contained an interview with Fidel Castro …amongst other things.

After NT and much to my surprise, I got into Architecture at Waterloo, a career I had decided on since discovering Le Corbusier in grade two. The first couple of years were brutal and hazy. I remember endless all-nighters surviving on coffee, cigarettes, donuts …amongst other things. However here I sit today still practicing Architecture. It has given me many wonderful experiences; taken me to many different places and connected me with many interesting people. For the last 30 years my focus has been on hospitals - I enjoy their complexities and the close user groups contacts. My portfolio includes Sunnybrook, Princess Margaret, Mt Sinai, Toronto Rehab, UHN, Sick Kids and others.

Except for Mary Jane Lovering who, btw is a brilliant landscape architect specializing in healing gardens, I have done poorly with keeping in touch with high school friends. Max Muselius is a retired oil patch executive now living in paradise in Alberta’s foothills. Mary Wreglesworth is in France and Vancouver where she founded an outreach program for at risk sex workers. I was saddened to read about Mike Burley and my neighbor Ron Britton Foster who we called Foster Britton Ronny. Unfortunately I can add to the list Geoff Hunter who died in 2009.

While at university I married my cottage sweetheart, Stephanie. Together we have moved 14 times and en route produced an amazing daughter, Katie, who also married her cottage sweetheart and they are now expecting their first child in July. We live near NT and when I drive by it I always smile – especially now that it has an official-size football field.

Leslie Kiraly

I am very fortunate. I feel like my life has turned out quite well. I have an intact marriage with 2 lovely daughters and 4 grandchildren with one more on the way. Everyone is healthy and happy in spite of the, "damned human condition".

I did get into Meds from Premeds and I went on to do Psychiatry since the last 34 years. I was able to work with patients with the most interesting health problems and complex lives. I feel very fortunate that I chose this profession. It has been a wild and wonderful ride. There were some academic and research and teaching opportunities but mostly I worked at Community Hospitals, where most of the clinical work gets done for those who are most in need.

I was Chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Peel Memorial Hospital in Brampton for about a decade which cured me of my ambitions. My first love was always private practice with all the autonomy and variety that private work can give you. No on call and no meetings or political hassles. 

I worked one day a week in Collingwood since 1985 so I could keep my kids and now grandchildren on the ski slopes in the winter. 

I was looking forward to seeing familiar but somewhat older faces on Friday May 2nd, but unfortunately, I won't be able to be at the Reunion. I have to be in New York for the APA CONFERENCE because I'm a rep from our district branch. I am sending my regrets. Hopefully, I can make the next one.

Mary Jane Lovering

Jim McCullam just phoned to further prod a bio from me. We cross paths as colleagues. My landscape architecture firm, Vertechs Design Inc. often teams with his architecture firm.

I forced my parents to let me enroll in North Toronto for my final years of high school. Anything to escape Branksome Hall meant taking a sudden interest in Russian Language studies. The course was unavailable at the all girl’s private school, so naturally I had to move on.

As graduation neared my mother gave me two options; you can be either a teacher or a nurse. Being a Doctor like my father, grandfather and brother was not an option. Accordingly I headed to Queen’s in Kingston to study Physiotherapy.

A few years of treating patients in public housing was an education. I came to appreciate the difference between the have and have-nots. It was not an intellectually challenging profession but it opened the door to wondering how I could give more to society.

I graduated from Landscape Architecture at the University of Toronto while working part time as a physiotherapist. My practice is at Bay and Bloor St in Toronto. Our firm was founded (32 years ago!) on the basis that the landscape can do more than be a pretty aesthetic back drop. We have pioneered studies in the use of outdoor space by special populations. In healthcare that includes the elderly, blind, children with disabilities, in prison settings forensic inmates and in schools -children’s play.

While wealthy patrons hire us to design residential estates; developer’s property enhancement and municipalities better planned community facilities – the most rewarding projects continue to be for those with limited means in institutional settings.

As an antidote to running a design firm I paint watercolors, am an avid yogi, golfer and play the piano. This summer I have a staycation planned based on five all day intensive piano studies. Toronto has been a great city to live in. Having sold our Muskoka cottage, I enjoy sailing at RCYC and playing golf at The Ladies Golf Club of Toronto.

It’s been a privileged life.  May middle age continue to be a time of growth and good times with family and friends.  I look forward to seeing our cohort’s together again at the reunion.

George Arvola

In 1964, my family moved from Sudbury Ontario to Toronto and we settled into the area that brought me and my two sisters to NTCI. Childhood friends were mostly left behind in northern Ontario and I might truthfully say that during the following three years, I did not make any close friends at my new high school. On the other hand, I don't remember making any enemies either and mostly, my grades 10, 11 and 12 years at NTCI were relatively uneventful. I took no part in any after school endeavours.

I received reasonably good marks until grade 12 at which time I had taken my private music studies very seriously and no longer seemed to have the time or energy to put into homework and anything to do with my formal education. I suspect that most of my peers were not aware that I was ever even involved with music. My classical guitar study was not particularly approved of by my dad as he would have wanted me to pursue something like engineering or anything scientific. Little did he realize that there not only is an art to music but there is a scientific component to it as well. Only many years later did he realize that I did succeed in the field to some degree.

After grade 12, I decided to get away from formal schooling and circumstances brought me Kitchener Ontario. Soon I was involved in teaching at a local music store and of course I was also in music instrument sales. Over a few years I became the store manager. In 1976 I left the music store business and branched out on my own as a private music teacher. During my previous years in the music store business I had made many contacts and had begun playing professionally with a variety of large and small bands. I freelanced as a guitarist and also played electric bass.

Most of my musical education had been self study with the exception of having taken private lessons during my grade 12 year in high school. The mathematics of music and the associated theory of music seemed to be rather obvious to me. However, in 1976, through a musical grapevive, I came in contact with a jazz guitar teacher named Tony Bradan and spent the next five years under his tutelege taking a weekly trip to Toronto. Tony was an inspired musician and instructor. Years later, I collaborated with Tony to assemble his methodology for teaching the guitar. Interested parties might read more about this on my web site. Just google George Arvola and you will find it.

In 1976, I also met my wife to be, Gitta, and we lived in sin for a number of years until her divorce was finallized. We married in 1981. In this relationship, I also inherited a step-daughter Susie who was 8 years old when i came on the scene. We continue to get older together.

Mostly I have been a musician all of my life to the present day and I still teach a number of students. Early in my teaching career I took on all comers but in my older age, I tend to be rather "picky" about students and screen out the ones who would only waste time and money.

My music career has taken me from coast to coast in Canada and I have travelled abroad on some occasions. Have I become famous? No! Am I happy? Yes! Fame and fortune have never been particularly important to me. Happiness and satisfaction have been the goals and to a greater degree, I have accomplished those. A phd from the university of life is maybe my greatest achievement. Unfortunately it does not come with a diploma which you can hang on the wall.

Due to previos commitments, I am not able to attend the reunion but that is just a poor excuse. I also think that I would feel a bit like a fish out of water because I only have vague memories of the three years at NTCI. I do have the year books and they do bring things back to mind. Nevertheless, I am certainly open to communicating with any of my ex-school mates through any medium. I am really easy to find on the internet and my email address is: garvola@rogers.com.

Several humorous things came to my mind as I was writing this bio. First of all, I imagine that a "mingle" with my fellow school mates would be similar to "speed dating" like some singles services advertise. Spending a few hours with a large group of relative strangers is not particularly appealing to me even though I am not necessarily anit-social. I am much better at personal one to one contact.

I do wish all the best to everyone attending the reunion and hope to hear from some of you at any time of your choosing. I am totally agreeable to replying to any communication.

Naomi Siegel

It's been hard writing this bio because random thoughts keep popping up: Mr. McMurray slamming his ruler on the desk and shocking our geography class, Mike Guiness quietly chuckling over my pronunciation of Don Quixote, Nancy and Bev getting upset because Dylan went electric......

I spent a lot of time in school gazing out of the window wishing I could be in a canoe or on a horse. That hasn't changed! I've managed to avoid being stuck in an office until 3 years ago and once again I have those same freedom loving thoughts.

After high school I travelled a lot, did odd jobs and was able to complete university because I lived on Queen St. and had so many interesting room mates and neighbours that it created a perfect school/life balance. I studied psychology, dance and dance therapy, eventually getting a degree in Fine Arts, then taking a college/university program in vocational rehabilitation. 

I worked in Vancouver, ran a health food store on the south shore of Nova Scotia and along the way settled down for awhile and had a son with my now ex husband. My son is a decent human being, a real mensch.

I've always worked in the non profit sector. The highlight of my career was heading a project for unemployed youth with disabilities. I had a hand picked team, an unlimited budget for neuro-psych assessments and was able to program the content to match the needs of our diverse group. The federal government only intended it as a pilot project so it ran 31/2 years but at least I can look back on the golden years of social services when such funding was possible.

I'm now working for the Toronto District School Board as a job developer but it's a terrible fit for an introverted empath who hates making cold calls. Next year I'm retiring and returning to my love of yoga, dance and movement. I plan on studying and teaching restorative exercise and work on improving my clicker training skills (who knew that I would ever find operant conditioning useful or interesting!).  I might even attend Chicken Camp; if you can train a chicken, then dogs and horses will be easy! 

I've lived in the country for 30 years. I'm lucky to be able to spend a lot of time looking after and riding horses instead of just dreaming about it like I did as a kid. Last year farmers planted a lot of corn in our area. The snapping turtles still made their way to and from the pond but the fireflies disappeared along with the bees and the swallows. The first speech I gave at Allenby public school in Grade 6 was on ecology. Funny how things come round again if you live long enough.

Donna  Hennessey ( Bartlam)

When I left NTCI, I went to the U of T to study English and History with very little idea of where that might take me.  After three years, I had more Political Science courses than English or History and still no idea of what I wanted to do.  After working in a bank for several years, I realized I had a talent for accounting.  That should not have been so surprising since my father taught Commerce, but since they didn’t teach practical subjects like that in high school in those days, I had no idea what was involved until I was actually doing it.  I did CMA courses by correspondence and night school but over time the demands of my family swamped any ambition I might have had for a career.  Instead, I made a career as super mom.

I met my husband, Richard, while I was at University and we were married in 1972.  We are still happily together after 42 years, and living in the same house here in Toronto we bought shortly after.  In a generally unplanned fashion, which is the way we live life, we gave birth to four daughters and a son, all naturally and at home.  Looking after the needs of the family kept me very busy and out of the work force for sixteen years.  Then I worked part-time for twenty years as the administrative assistant at my church.   Fortunately my husband has found constant employment all of these years doing home repairs and improvements, though I suspect he also has never had more than part-time employment.

We have always had a life-style commitment to leaving the smallest footprint.  We recycled before it was fashionable; I walked to work and church, and shop in small stores in my neighbourhood; we have had an allotment garden in High Park for over twenty-five years where we grow most of the vegetables that we eat during the summer and into the fall; we cook things from scratch and do a lot of canning and freezing in the fall; almost everything we own and wear has been broken in before it comes to us;  I sewed a lot of our clothes and household things; Richard’s work has often been about making old houses work better without major renovation; our vacation property has no modern conveniences, just peace and silence. Our children are similarly committed to minimalist lifestyles.  Three are married and two have children.  Those two, one, an occupational therapist and the other a teacher, live in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, while two others live nearby in Toronto. Our youngest is a wanderer and outdoors person who travels the world on a shoestring, working as a wilderness trip guide and climbing instructor, covertly using her Social Work degree through therapeutic recreation. (You have to be cautious about where you send your kids to camp: they may never want to come back to the city.)

One of the things I enjoyed most in my years at NTCI was the music program and all the hours put into orchestra and choir practices. My biggest regret was that I never had formal lessons so that I could do it really well.  Those were the years before David Ford and his marvellous music program, the heritage of which has since made NTCI renowned for its music program and graduates.  I wanted my children to have the opportunity to enjoy the same thing, so very early in their lives they were each introduced to an instrument and given lessons through the Suzuki method, which, incidentally, I first heard about in Grade 13.  They each did very well on their instruments – piano, violins, cello, flute – and attended a high school equally well known for its music program, Humberside.  If you know anything about the Suzuki method, you will realize that this required me to practice with each child for at least a half hour per day as well as attend all lessons.  The rewards were having my own little music group and learning a lot about each child as they interacted with their wonderful music teachers.   I also was able to have lessons finally, and I have continued to learn and participate in various music groups.  It was wonderful to perform in the orchestra and choir at The 100^th Anniversary Maytime Melodies at Roy Thompson Hall two years ago.  I currently play with the Kitchener Waterloo Community Orchestra and a Christian choir and orchestra called Jubilance, that ministers to churches here in Ontario and all over the world.

After exploring political theory and a few alternative spiritual disciplines after University, I returned to the faith of my childhood and became a committed Christian.  My faith has always been very important to me, my husband and most of our children.  It has provided a strong basis for our family life, lifestyle, and my work at the church.  In recent years, it has also provided exciting opportunities for travel, visiting missionaries and with Jubilance.  I have enjoyed the enlightening experience of meeting with and talking to ordinary people in their homes and churches in cities and the countryside in places like Peru, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia as well as Europe. 

I have been adjusting to retirement for a year and a half now.  I sometimes wonder how I ever had time to work since I seem to be busy all the time.  I spend a lot of time visiting and caring for my five grandchildren, four boys and a girl, helping out at the church’s Food Bank, practising and performing music with all the travel it entails, gardening, sewing, catching up on my reading and watching all the old TV shows and movies I was always too busy to enjoy before.   This is very fulfilling.  My family is blessedly healthy and very busy getting on with their lives.  My husband and I are fortunate to enjoy good health and have the energy to do most things that interest us.

Robert Nicholson ( English Teacher)

The following is a report on my activities after leaving NTCI . 

In 1966 after 9 years teaching English (the last two and a half as assistant head at North Toronto) , I became Head of English at Jarvis where I stayed 19 years. In my final year ,in an emergency, I served as acting vice principal.

This experience encouraged me to make a change and in 1995 I became VP at Malvern.   

My next step was to Secondary Alternative Schools as acting principal  .In 1991,I was appointed principal at Eastern Commerce .My 7 years et Eastern were tremendously rewarding .In total ,I worked for the Toronto Board for 41 years and loved every year . When we both retired. Mairi , my wife (Guidance Secretary at NT from 1959 to  1963 ) and I enjoyed many excellent trips . Our last in 1997 was to New Zealand where we enjoyed a mini North Toronto reunion at the home of Gordon Stewart , class of 67.  Jim Stewart, class of 65, was visiting Gord at the same time . One year later, Mairi died of cancer. Since then I have continued to live in my house in Don Mills and have received tremendous support from my family  -2 sons 1 daughter   2 daughters in law  and 5 grandchildren aged 22 to 11 . I celebrated my 80th birth day last year at a party with my family and 40 friends                                                                   

Best wishes to the class of 1968.

Bill Ostrander

The simple facts of my life since NTCI are:  

1.         MA (Pol Sc), and LLB at University of Toronto

2.         Corporate Law at Gowlings in Toronto until 2003

3.         Investor and Chair of 2 smallish private businesses since 2003

The more human aspects of my life are:

1.         It was a little lonely being an out gay man on Bay Street in the 80's.

2          I have been in love three times and each of them is still happily in my life.

3          I am lucky to have 12 nieces and nephews and 28 great nieces and great nephews, who don't seem to mind having me around.

Ruth Chick (Wagner)

      I hesitated to write this bio and come to the reunion because I was from the previous year. I developed a sleeping sickness early in my first time around of grade thirteen at NTCI, and slept away the year. Coming back, I always felt like a failure, and was sad, although I hadn’t returned from failing but rather from absence. However I must say the ‘68 students were nice to me. I have truly enjoyed reading your bios.

           I think it best to skip much of my life. However, I attended University of Toronto, married a crazy architect, and have four lovely adult children from that time. I did my stint with biodynamic organic farming. All during that time I played the violin, piano and church organ professionally, and taught music and still do. I am blessed with six grandchildren.

     In 1984, the house I owned burned to the ground and I lost everything I owned. This included my old yearbooks. I would dearly love to acquire them again, as I cannot picture many of those whom I knew. I also cannot send you my school photo from then.

       I pursued a career in violinmaking, attended Ontario College of Art for Instrument making, married a wonderful violinmaker Sieg Wagner,( I was his second wife), who changed the way I made new instruments and taught me restoration of old and broken instruments and re-hairing bows.(sadly he died of cancer.) Wagner violins carries on. I work making and repairing violins and acoustic instruments . I love what I do, so have no plans of ever quitting. 

       I live between Bracebridge and Huntsville, where my house is also my  violin workshop.  If anyone wishes to see me now , I have a web site for my violin making

    www.wagnerviolinrepairs.com  you are most welcome to  contact me, and if you wish, come for a visit . I know that you will all have a wonderful time and sincerely wish you the very best.

Garth Drabinsky

Film Producer, Television Producer, Broadway Musical Producer.  I have won multiple Tony Awards for Broadway Musicals.

I have 2 children and 2 grandchildren.

Barb  Smith  (Bowen)

Still horsing around, I am humbled by the bios I have read.  Having three beautiful children and one granddaughter with extended families, a wonderful guy to share good times and bad, life is good.  If wealth was measured by ones family and friends,  I would be rich.  I still reside in the Waterdown area on fifty acres, breeding, training, and selling horses.  And yes, I still climb on these nags myself!  With not much time for leisure, I don’t get away from the farm much.  I still enjoy skiing, travelling (usually horse related), and the many people that visit frequently.  Looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up after, how many year yesterday it seems!  Short like me, I hope this bio brings you up to date.    

Fred Fruitman

Editor’s Note:  Fred was one of my best friends in high school,  but like it seems most even best friends,  we did not keep in touch afterwards.  In 2005 when I was in New York City for a work related conference I decided to look him up because I had heard from a cousin who knew his brother that he was working on Wall Street and living in Manhattan.  My wife and I met with him and his wife at his beautiful Tribeca condo and we caught up.  He has since moved to his firm’s London England office and I was able to track him down to tell him about the reunion.  He is not able to come to the reunion but I warned him that if he did not write his bio I would write a short one for him.  So here are some facts about Fred he would probably want you to know.

After graduating from N.T.C.I.  Fred attended prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston where he obtained a degree in Engineering and Economics. He then attended  the University of Oxford in England  for two years where he studied law and received a Master’s of Arts  followed by two years at the University of Toronto Law School to obtain a Canadian law degree ( though he has never practiced law). He then to finish off his education went to Harvard University where he obtained a Master’s of Business Administration.  He worked in Boston before heading to Wall Street where he was an investment banker and now works for Loeb Partners as a Managing Director.  He has two adult daughters from his first marriage and a teenage son with his present wife.

Fred was the organizer behind N.T.C. I.’s Reach for The Top Team for our year and along with Ken Clark,  Anne Koresaar, and Bill Schabas made up  the team that did very well on the show. It was one of Fred’s goal in life to appear on a U.S. television  trivia game show.  So a  few years after high school he travelled to New York  City to attempt to achieve that goal.  He was successful, as he appeared on the “Who, What and Where” game.  Unfortunately Fred did not do as well on the show as he had hoped and it was not the experience he expected, but he made it to prime time.

Eleventh newsletter from Laurie

11^th Newsletter

April  2, 2014

Just one month away from the reunion.  I have a few reminders and nine more bios in this newsletter.

GRAD PHOTOS & NAME OF SPOUSE ATTENDING

We would like a head shot of everyone coming to the reunion,  as they looked in 1968.  We have most people because we are using the grad photos. But if you are not in the grad photos, bringing a spouse or are a teacher we need that photo in jpeg or even pdf by April 11^th.  I also need the name of your spouse who is attending.

PHOTOS FROM OTHER YEARS

Again I would remind you to send to Ruth Rosen Levkoe at ruthleahlevkoe@yahoo.ca any photos you have from high school as she and Janet Toppin Swann are putting together a slide show for Memory Mingle

CONFIRMATION FORMS

Classmates have been sending them in and we have 59 confirmed people but I expect the number of attendees will be between 80-90 so we are still missing almost 1/3.  For planning purposes, the confirmation and pictures  are needed by April 11^th .  If you are not sure of your plans yet, still send in a confirmation form but say you are unsure.  Here is the form again though I have added Spouse’s name.

NTCI CLASS OF 1968 REUNION MAY 2^ND AND 3^RD CONFIRMATION FORM

NAME      

MAIDEN NAME

SPOUSE’S NAME IF ATTENDING

HOME ADDRESS

HOW MANY COMING TO  MEMORY MINGLE

HOW MANY COMING TO MAYTIME MELODIES

HOW MANY COMING TO BILL HUMBER HOUSE PARTY

HOW MANY COMING TO DOUG GAMMAGE HOUSE PARTY

HOW MANY GOING TO SATURDAY NIGHT RESTURANT

WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO SET UP FOR MEMORY MINGLE

WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO CLEAN UP AFTER MEMORY MINGLE

WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO WORK AT RECEPTION DESK OF MEMORY MINGLE

WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO SELL 50/50 TICKETS

WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO TAKE PICTURES

WILL YOU VOLUNTEER TO TAKE VIDEO

2/3, 1/3 DRAW (formerly known as the 50/50 draw)

Some people have bought tickets by e mail transfer or by mail.  Don’t feel obliged to buy in advance. I am sorry if I gave the impression we wanted people to buy these tickets beforehand.  I was really suggesting the beforehand purchasing for people who could not attend or for those who found it more convenient to buy beforehand.

BLOG

If you are missing a newsletter or want to quickly find info on the reunion or a bio it is best to go directly to our great Blog that Bill Schabas has set up and is administering from London, England.  It also has a 1968 class 13A picture and  photos from the last reunion.  Those pictures will help you accept that we have all aged a little.

The Blog  can be found at  http://ntci68.blogspot.co.uk/?zx=bbbb5ceb75851e64 or google NTCI 1968 Class Reunion.

FINDING PEOPLE

We are running out of time to find classmates but it is never too late to look. Attached is an up to date list of who we have found, what events they have confirmed they are coming to and whether we have their bio.  If I have made a mistake about your information (like I  lost your confirmation form), please advise.